THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. American families and small businesses across the country are feeling the pinch from rising gas
prices. If you're trying to meet a family budget or a payroll, even a
small change at the pump can have a big impact.

America's prosperity depends on reliable, affordable and secure
sources of energy. And today our energy needs are growing faster than
our domestic sources are able to provide. Demand for electricity has
grown more than 17 percent in the past decade, while our transmission
ability lags behind. And we continue to import more than one-half of
our domestic oil supply.

In the coming days and weeks I'll talk more about what we need to
do in Washington to make sure America has an energy policy that
reflects the demands of a new century. The first order of business is
for Congress to pass an energy bill. Next week Congress begins debate
on energy legislation and they need to send me a bill that meets four
important objectives:

First, the energy bill must encourage the use of technology to
improve conservation. We must find smarter ways to meet our energy
needs, and we must encourage Americans to make better choices about
energy consumption. We must also continue to invest in research, so we
will develop the technologies that would allow us to conserve more and
be better stewards of the environment.

Second, the energy bill must encourage more production at home in
environmentally sensitive ways. Over the past three years, America's
energy consumption has increased by about 4 percent, while our domestic
energy production has decreased by about 1 percent. That means more of
our energy is coming from abroad. To meet our energy needs and
strengthen our national security we must make America less dependent on
foreign sources of energy.

Third, the energy bill must diversify our energy supply by
developing alternative sources of energy like ethanol or biodiesel. We
need to promote safe, clean nuclear power. And to create more energy
choices, Congress should provide tax credits for renewable power
sources such as wind, solar, and landfill gas. We must also continue
our clean coal technology projects so that we can use the plentiful
source of coal in an environmentally friendly way. The bill must also
support pollution-free cars and trucks, powered by hydrogen fuel cells
instead of gasoline.

Finally, the energy bill must help us find better, more reliable
ways to deliver energy to consumers. In some parts of the country, our
transmission lines and pipelines are decades older than the homes and
businesses they supply. Many of them are increasingly vulnerable to
events that can interrupt and shut down power in entire regions of the
country. We must modernize our infrastructure to make America's energy
more secure and reliable.

Every source of power that we use today started with the power of
human invention, and those sources have served us well for decades.
Now it's time to apply our knowledge and technology to keep the
American Dream alive in this new century. There is nothing America
cannot achieve when we put our mind to it. And I urge Congress to work
out its differences and pass an energy bill that will help make America
safer and more prosperous for the years to come.